A Red Deer man charged with child sexual exploitation crimes will go on trial in Florida in June.
James Hjelmeland, 30, was charged in February with one count of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity; and two counts of distributing, one count of transporting, and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material, according to a Feb. 13 news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida.
A status conference on the case has been set for May 15 and the trial is to begin June 2 in an Orlando courtroom.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said an undercover detective with Orange County Sheriff's Office posed as the guardian of a 12-year-old. It is alleged Hjelmeland messaged the detective to ask about the age of the "child."
"Hjelmeland then (allegedly) engaged in sexually explicit conversation with the undercover detective and made plans to travel from Canada to Orlando to have sex with the 'child,'" says the release.
It is alleged that during the conversation Hjelmeland distributed child sexual abuse material to the detective. Authorities say that when arrested in Orlando, Hjelmeland had sexual abuse material involving children under the age of 12 on his cellphone.
The attempted enticement charge carries a minimum of 10 years in prison to life. The distributing and transporting of child sexual abuse materials charges are punishable by a minimum of five years in prison up to 20 years, and the possession charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
The case was a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, Orange County Sheriff's Office, United States Customs and Border Patrol and the Southern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Team as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nation-wide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat a growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
